Marduk "Frontschwein" CD

Since vocal phantom Mortuus joined the fold Marduk has seen a string of successful albums after a period lacking inspiration at the dawn of the new millennia. Only ‘Wormwood’ showed a slight dip in quality and the frontrunners of Swedish black metal have rejuvenated their sound with renewed inspiration. ‘Frontschwein’ (a phrase used by Germans at the front during World War I roughly translating to cannon fodder) was beforehand bound to be a middle album. Seriously how many more gems can we expect from these veterans? The war-themed songs and the accompanying album cover rose suspicions of a ‘Panzer Division Marduk’ part II, partly due to the follow-up of the ’99 grindfest’s track ‘502’, of course titled ‘503’. Surely, ‘Frontschwein’ is as intense as the crushing ‘Panzer…’, but in a completely different manner.
Those familiar with the band’s latter albums know pretty much what to expect. On ‘Frontschwein’ Marduk continues along that road, skillfully moving between doomy passages, crushing mid-tempo and pulverizing up-tempo and back again. The typical tremolo-intense riffing style of Morgan is easily recognizable, but feels fresh and inspired especially in the fast tracks where the riffs started to become almost self-plagiarizing on the last two albums. Fresh drummer Fredrik Widigs seems to have provided an energy boost with his steady, yet massive, drum work. For instance, the odd pace in ‘The Blonde Beast’ was upright weird at first glance, but ultimately grew to, well… a beast!
The remarkable strength of ‘Frontschwein’ lies to much extent in its immense intensity. With the exception of borderline filler ‘Falaise: Cauldron of Blood’, the entire album is a soundtrack to the most gruesome faces of warfare and the psychological horrors revealed by men in its midst. The genial production puts both the guitars and drums equally at the front neither putting the other to rest. Every stroke on the drums is an artillery shell heading straight to your fox hole, every guitar chord is a panzer battalion heading your way and Mortuus’ guttural varied screams hovers between the two scornfully declaring your imminent demise. How the latter can come from any human being who does not suffer simultaneously from throat cancer, goiter and mumps remains a mystery. Anyway, they remain the best to be found in the scene today.
Beyond the intensity one finds the best set of tracks since the 2004 masterpiece ‘Plague Angel’, skillfully written with enough variation to give each track a distinct identity. The up-tempo title track or ‘Rope of Regret’ will most likely open the bands set on coming tours with honors. Massive mid-tempo crusher ‘Nebelwerfer’ has me mercilessly pinned to the ground begging for the inevitable end. In ‘503’ one can really feel the weight of the entire 503rd heavy panzer battalion crushing the opposition on the Ukrainian plains. The album’s style is unmistakably a continuation along the path of ‘Rom 5:12’, ‘Wormwood’ and ‘Serpent Sermon’, yet bears hints of the moods from classics like ‘Heaven Shall Burn…’ and ‘Nightwing’.
Topping masterful albums like ‘Rom 5:12’ and ‘Serpent Sermon’ ought to be nothing short of impossible, but somehow Marduk manages to do just that in 11 symphonies honoring the horror, madness and destruction of warfare. Don’t even bother arming yourself and stand your ground. War is coming and you better prepare to become what you were born to be, a ‘Frontschwein’, cannon fodder!

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